1. Field of the Invention
Implementations of various techniques described herein generally relate to sub-surface mapping in the oil and gas industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples do not constitute an admission as prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
Implementations of various techniques described herein are directed to identifying fractures and/or fracture clusters that exist in the formation surrounding a reservoir. These fractures may exist due to the nature of the formation, such as rocks, limestones and the like. Knowledge of the fractures or fracture clusters surrounding a reservoir may be important for well planning, production and the like for various reasons. For example, fractures may be used to assist the flow of hydrocarbons from the reservoir to which the fractures are connected. Further, knowledge of the fractures location may assist the geosteering of the pipes leading to the reservoir.
Currently, geologists use borehole images to identify these fractures. Such borehole images may include ultrasonic borehole images (UBI), oil-based mud images (OBMI), formation microscanned images (FMI) and the like. Unfortunately, the borehole images only provide images of the surface of the fractures. The depth, length and shape/pattern of the fractures and the distance between the fractures and the reservoir often remain unknown to geologists. As a result, geologists often use probability density functions to extrapolate the depth, length and shape of the fractures and the distance between the fractures and the reservoir. Therefore, a need exists in the art for an improved method to identify fractures or fracture clusters surrounding a reservoir.